Web Sites Work

Add a Favicon to your Website!

2010-05-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

Favicon

Add a Favicon (favorite icon) to your website, so that your company or product logo appears in the URL box. This icon will also show up in a bookmark list, and gives the web site an added level of professionalism.

How? You can do a search for “add a flavicon” I used http://www.html-kit.com/favicon on GotRocks4Sale.com

Pick a photo or logo for your site; upload the graphic through the browse option; download the kit; copy and paste the code you are given to your index page, and place the icon in your root directory.

This is another way to Brand and Promote your website.

Facebook Annoyance and Safety

2010-04-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here are two very helpful guides that will show you step by step how to make Facebook more secure.

http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/12/facebook-privacy-new/ - This is a great article on the new (i.e., less private) settings in Facebook and how to increase the security levels.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?safety - This is Facebook's online security center. You don't have to login to use it. This is a good page to scan now and then so you know what's in it if you need it.

In security, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Choose your friends carefully, limit the personal information you publish and keep your password strong and safe. These simple proactive measures will go a long way to enhance the safety and effectiveness of Facebook.
Read more: http://www.site-reference.com/articles/General/Stopping-Unwanted-Communications-in-Facebook.html#ixzz0lagNbg1y

Looking for Free Advertising?

2010-01-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a great place to advertise for free: 1freeadvertising.com they offer free advertising service to promote your website or services for free. To place an ad, register first. You have more control over your ad, edit, renew or delete your ad as you need. You can add a picture, edit, update etc. all for free. Try it!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Ducks!!

2009-12-31T20:49:00.001-08:00

Link Exchange Directory of Top Sites

2009-12-25T11:59:00.000-08:00

Link Exchange Directory of Top Sites Dmegs.com

SEO friendly web directory of top sites & blogs organized by topic into categories and presented according to relevance of website.

Submit your website free.

A Note

2009-11-19T15:22:00.000-08:00

I won't be taking on any additional clients for website design, I am swamped. My theory of keeping things simple and being a little patient with marketing is working. I am currently getting the hang of social networking. Since I'm not a full time web designer any longer I have the time to do the research I like to do before I "buy" into any of the SEO "you have to" stuff. The SEO business changes rapidly, in my opinion, and I don't see much change in SEO know it alls. Sorry for being blunt, but if someone wants you to fork over $400 a month plus, I want major performance, not just the same old thing.

What I am finding that really works with regard to social networking is:
Attend events - show up consistently
Join organizations and get involved in mommittees
Network with other trade partners
Invest you time
Volumteer
Build relationships
Recognize those who have helped you out
Be authentic
Don't act desperate
Listen to what people are saying, and follow through
Share your experiences
Be a mentor
Fous on giving, not getting
Let people know what your expertise is
Follow up with people
Learn about other trades
Don't be afraid to give feed-back
Ask lots of questions
Be respectful of your peers and their existing relationships
Set goals and manage your time
Maximize customer service
Treat everything you do as a networking opportunity.

Social Networking is not just for the internet, facebook, twitter, etc.

Page Rank, was it ever worth it?

2009-10-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

It isn't often that I find a article worth linking to but I believe this is important to those people who struggle to understand how to get more traffic. In the SEO world it seems like little is ever explained about statements made revelant to how much we are charged for SEO work.

I personally have never believed much in Page Rank, I tend to go with Key Words and Key Phrases. Putting myself in the shoes of the seacher. In other words, if I'm looking for X product, what words would I use to find that product on the web; and it works.

I've posted an article here about Google and Page Rank. I hope it sheds a little light on the subject; there are some good comments also, I said "some" good comments. (I also posted a link here so you can read comments.)

Google Ditches PageRank in Webmaster Tools
By Chris Crum

Google has quietly gotten rid of PageRank in Webmaster Tools. Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable points to a thread featuring an explanation from Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa.

"We've been telling people for a long time that they shouldn't focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it's the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true," says Moskwa. "We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it."

Search marketers are wondering why Google tells people not to focus on PageRank and removes it from Webmaster Tools, but still keeps it in the Google Toolbar. "Back in 2007, Google wanted feedback on removing PageRank from the Toolbar," says Schwartz. "I felt it was a good idea but the idea died out. Google cannot remove PageRank from the Toolbar, it is too much of their branding. No matter how much Matt Cutts and the Google search quality and webmaster trends team want it removed, I cannot see Google's executives allowing it."

Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim says the role of PageRank has been reduced to nothing more than a "comfort blanket for SEO Noobs." He adds, "I say this, with a high degree of confidence that most experienced SEOs pour over the data in Google Webmaster Tools, whereas those new to the industry likely let the toolbar be their only guiding light."

He also notes, however, that PageRank data can still be useful. For example, it can be a good indicator of a site's behavior in Google's index. "Any green means 'go.' No green, means there's something to investigate," says Beal.

Despite this usefulness though, Moskwa pretty much closes the case on Google's position on it. In fact, she even points to a FAQ page about crawling, indexing, and ranking, which says that webmasters shouldn't even bother thinking about it. It also says that PageRank is just one of over 200 signals that can affect how your site is crawled, indexed, and ranked.

Cross Browser Testing

2009-08-28T20:04:00.001-07:00

I’m guilty, yes it is true I have not tested my website in the different browsers to see exactly what others see if they don’t use the browser I use all the time. I am a creature of habit like many people are; it is the convenience, comfort level, ease of use when you are using something all the time. This is not good when it comes to your website!

www.GotRocks4Sale.com screen shot example:

I recently discovered http://browsershots.org It’s a handy webmaster tool to see, all in one place, how your front page looks in several different browsers. It is a free tool and very easy to use. You can type in any of your web pages not just your front page.

The process takes a little time to upload the screenshots but it is worth it. I discovered that the text you choose to use on your website is not necessarily the text that your viewers are going to see. If you have labored over which text to use on your web site you may be wasting your time.

Color can be another issue. There are colors you can use that are ‘safe’ colors and will remain true in any browser.

Success = Dig in and Do It

2009-08-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

This morning while reading my email subscriptions from those who are "in the know" category, I came upon a well said statement from "ProBlogger". A statement worthy of passing on, unfortunately most of what I read is so redundant I wouldn't dream of passing on, anyway:

"The Internet makes it very easy for people to do favors for each other. Go meet everyone you can. One morning, you might receive an email from someone who thinks you are worth more than you do. When they tell you that, don’t argue.

Go go go.

Today.

Now.

Don’t look back

Don’t second guess.

You’re not the passenger, you’re the driver.

Refuse to deal with life. Make it deal with you."

Building confidence over a lifetime of "been there done that" means that we've tried, success or failure, we've tried. But we forget some of those successes when we fall flat on our faces. I don't see the take charge attitudes I once saw in people I meet online or offline. Hard work pays off as well as persistence, determination and of course the never give up attitude.

What I see to much of today is people with their hand out wanting someone else to do the work and they take the reward. I believe that is why all the "get rich quick" scams are so successful. The highway to happiness, speed to your dream destination can cost a bundle resulting in nothing but an empty wallet.

There are no short cuts and unfortunately there is little desire to take time, research, learn, attempt, etc. Whatever we do we need to share and build each other up. If someone gives you a meaningful compliment accept it and glow!

That being said I would like to thank all the people who have given me their kind words, compliments, and the like. You encourage me everyday and I sincerely hope at least some of the offerings in this blog help you.

That is why WebSitesWork! and so do www.privatestockjewelry.com, www.homebasedjewelersshowcase.com, gotrocks4sale.com, as well as my other websites and blogs. (But I just can't find the time to tweet.)

Tips and advice on how to get the most out of your classifieds

2009-08-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

The title of your ad is arguably the most important aspect as this is what people see in the categories and search results and that is what is clicked on in order to view the rest of your ad.

By default, when somebody runs a search, it's your ad title that is searched so your title must contain descriptive words that describe what you're offering.
If your ad title doesn't describe what you're advertising, it can't be returned in the results when somebody runs a search.

Your title should be short and concise and should accurately describe what is being offered in your ad.

Bad titles include generic phrases such as "For Sale" or "Best Offer" as titles like those give potential buyers no idea what you're offering so they will be unlikely to click on your ad to view the rest of it.

Having a good description can be the difference between making the sale or not making the sale.

It's important to try and put yourself in the position of the kind of person you're trying to attract to your ad and ask yourself what information you'd like to see in the ad if you were the person looking to buy.

Short ads with little information rarely perform well while the most successful ads are the ones that include lots of information and descriptions and clear photo's which answer people's questions before they ask them.

It's important to include as much information as possible and include details such as shipping terms, costs, your returns policy if you have one, the total cost, when the buyer can expect to receive the item, if you provide tracking information etc.

Generally speaking, the more information the better as this helps the buyer make an informed decision without having to contact you for clarification on anything that you may have overlooked when creating your ad.

For more information on What makes a good ad?
The most successful ads are usually ones that have a clear concise title, a thorough and accurate description with good punctuation, clear pricing, excellent im...

What to avoid when creating an ad
When creating an ad you should avoid adding any irrelevant information that doesn't relate directly to the content of the ad as this can confuse buyers. Spelli...

Using appropriate images in your ads
Having a premium membership or a Photo Pack allows you to upload up to 12 images to each ad. Uploading multiple images of the item you're advertising allows yo...

My ad is getting a lot of views but not many replies
If your ad is getting a lot of views but not many replies, that's a good indication that you've created an ad with a good title which is attracting people to cl...

My ad is not getting many views
If your ad is not getting many views, it usually means that you've either placed your ad in completely the wrong category so the potential customers browsing th...

You can go here:
">classifieds to buy, sell or advertise anything!

Good Points Inspire

2009-08-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

While doing a bit of research I ran across a Hub Page Title: Fifty ways to bring traffic to your website and blog. After reading the list, which had suggestive notes, I read the comments which were all pretty positive until the last one by someone named Thomas and I quote: "Your SEO tips are what people think are what needs to be done, but you're wrong, sorry.

It seems as though all you did was copy and paste a bunch of stuff and you have no idea what it means.

Alt tags in images? - No, worthless to search results

Proper SEO means 'making some adjustments' to your site? - No, SEO is a full time job, not a wave of a magic wand

Submit to search engines? - No, waste of time unless by this you mean submitting a proper sitemap

Link exchange? - No, takes too long to get each link and they normally amount to nothing worthwhile. Reciprocal linking is dead.

Here's some things you said that are true, but you don't know why they are true do you?

Organised internal linking? YES, but what does it mean?

Using sitemaps? YES, but what is a proper sitemap and what do you do with it?

Using robots.txt? YES! But how? Why? What is a 'robots.txt'?

You're not giving the reader anything useful, just spitting out keywords to get clicks."

Thomas

I'm not sure why Thomas had such a gritty tone but I get his point. I would guess he is an underworked, broke SEO.

With so many people trying so hard to "be seen" on the web; who's funds are at a minimum, it is a good time to ask How, and Why and What is. Since this blog is dedicatied to the "technically challenged" I think it would be a good time to start explaining some of these things. But not at this minute, I have two deadlines to meet!

But first I want to thank Thomas for great things to write about so I can save everyone that reads my posts some time and money!!

LOL Get this one = well dah!

2009-08-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

Addurl-free.com is charging $40 for each URL review.

OR: Pricing:
•We make submissions at the cost of 14 cents per directory submission. This means, an order placed for 100 submissions would cost you just $14. This is a one-time, all inclusive fee. There are no hidden or recurring costs involved.

But: Save Precious Time in Getting Quality One-Way Links
Benefit from our experience of over 5,000,000 submissions oh please
There is a 24 page list of their submission targets. Hmmm. . . . I suspect something rotten in India here, but then maybe I am wrong.

Google says do not use submissions services, automated anyway.

Some advice: Beware of some sites that offer you submission to "350" directories or listings for money. They provide you with a list of hundreds of directories that "they" will submit your site and get you a listing. What I found from testing them is that most of the directories that they show you can be bogus, not there, charge for submission or a list of free url submission sites that are google ads that they are getting paid on. I don't have a problem (obviously) with google ads, but to trick you into clicking through to find the "free" submission is down right unethical.

Google Checkout store gadget (experimental)

2009-08-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

It's about time! For the life of me I have not understood why Google with all their experience and expertise hasn't offered this before. Yes it might be experimental but hey, you have to start somewhere, right?

I'm excited about this because it gives all of use and EASY way to put a shopping cart on our blogs. You have choices now within your blog for placement and size etc.

Overview
The Google Checkout store gadget allows you to quickly and easily create an online store using a Google Docs spreadsheet.

No complicated coding or technical tasks are required. You can get your first online store up-and-running in under five minutes.

Get all the power of the Checkout shopping cart in just three easy steps:

Sign up for a Google Checkout merchant account
List the products you want to sell in a Google spreadsheet
Embed your new online store in any website

Get the details here

Delete A Blogger Comment 1.0

2009-08-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

I found this utility Delete A Blogger Comment 1.0 on Blogger Tips and Tricks. It's a great site with lotz of information. The problem I have is a "jerk" who posts a comment on one of my other blogs Private Stock Jewelry.blogspot.com and makes some stupid statement, not derogatory, just stupid and then puts links to his site. It is solely for the purpose of recording his/her link. If the statement made any sense at all I'd leave it up.

Anyway, the reason for the utility is that sometimes that little trash can doesn't show up and you really need to delete a comment. On one occasion I had to delete the entire post and then re- post. Hope this helps someone.

I would like your opinion

2009-07-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

I've just set up a website for my friend Millie; she's Overstocked with Rocks. This is the first phase, there are many, many pictures to take. Between you and me she should open a brick and mortar store.

Seriously, I would like "objective" opinions. I know that most of you are not jewelry designers looking to purchase precious and semi-precious gems, that's not the point here. I want an objective opinion of the website.

Please keep in mind the about page, and the blah, blah, blah pages have not been constructed, those aren't the important pages. I won't give you a quarter for your opinion but I'll give you a link!! That's worth a bunch more than a quarter!

Meta Tags for Newbies

2009-07-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

When you are new to putting up a website you may not know about Meta Tags. I'm not so sure if it is absolutely necessary to know all the gory details about Meta Tags as it is important to have them on your website. I've posted an Advanced Meta Tag Generator for you in the side bar. The tool is from SEO Chat. It is all "no charge" information. You will find it helpful in regard to your traffic and building and updating your website(s). There are other tools and analysers to help you there; far more extensive than I can elaborate on here. In case you don't know the meta tags go in the Head of your web page. They identify you and the content of your website so the search engines can find you.

Copyrights

2009-07-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

While viewing Sue Runyon Designs I noticed a small picture at the end of the page. After clicking on it I found a remarkable resource for copyright information.

If you are going to do some article writing to promote your site(s) you might find this helpful itscopyrighted.com If you are creating jewelry or writing articles make sure you are not violating copyrights. There is a hefty fine for doing so. Ignorance is no excuse!

What we have here is a Lack of Communication!

2009-07-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Feel the need to communicate your expertise? Need Traffic? Need Links?
Try: http://www.buzzle.com/ With categories covering everything from animals to tourism, Buzzle.com is your complete source for news, articles and information. Get the latest buzz, interact with authors and other readers on message boards, or add to the buzz by becoming a Buzzle.com author.

Here is another great way to get "your words" out: Ezine Articles

EzineArticles For Authors
Submit Articles
Members Login
Benefits
Expert Authors
Most Emailed
Most Viewed
Article Rating
Read Endorsements
Send Testimonials
Editorial Guidelines
Author TOS

This is an enormous site, well organized with very helpful information. You can communicate 'til your heart is content! Give and Get Back.

Easy Thumbnails

2009-07-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Easy Thumbnails is a great tool for taking any number of photos and making thumbnails is litterally a flash. Since I am totally redesigning two websites with vast amounts of photos that need to be used as a visual index (one picture is worth a thousand words)I needed a quick and easy way to make thumbnails.

I found Fookes Software, It is Great!

Easy Thumbnails is a popular free Windows utility for creating accurate thumbnail images and scaled-down/up copies from a wide range of popular picture formats. An elegant interface makes it a snap to find your images and select them for processing individually, in groups, or in whole folders, using a simple file selector and built-in image viewer. You can use slider controls to rotate images and adjust their contrast, brightness, sharpness and quality, and check out the results with the built-in viewer.

Thumbnails can be created in any existing folder or a new folder, and you can identify them clearly by adding a prefix or suffix to their filename. If you're an image-processing enthusiast, you'll enjoy having a choice of eleven resampling filters for the best possible results. You can convert small batches of images inside Windows Explorer from the File menu or with a right-click of the mouse, display thumbnails in your browser, and even take advantage of command-line switches to generate thumbnails seamlessly from other programs. You can also save your thumbnails to a Web page using a HTML template that you can easily customize to create your own layouts, and there's helpful documentation that includes full instructions and some useful tips.

Easy Thumbnails is a genuine freeware product that will not annoy you with advertising, intrusive spyware components or nag screens. It comes from the developers of the award-winning NoteTab text editors.

If you need to make thumbnails, I highly recommend this and yes I have used it many times. I give it a 10 out of 10!

Getting the Word Out about You

2009-07-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Some of you might be interested in publicizing your product, service or whatever you are all about. You might consider checking this out.

Big News.biz

The purpose of this site is to give businesses, individuals and journalists a trusted venue to post news and press releases. Our goal is to provide quality content from sources that are accountable for what they submit.

Every author / publisher who posts to this site is vetted through the double opt in registration. They also time-stamp and record their IP address during registration confirmation as well as for each submission. Under every approved article you can see the contact information for the publisher account and the person that submitted the article.

All content is reviewed prior to publication and must include a URL for a Web site that pertains to the article. Approved content is then published online and made available to the media, the public, search engines and other Web sites on behalf of the publisher.

Guidelines for the types of press releases and news articles we will accept are available on the -Terms of Service- page. For more information, see: http://www.bignews.biz/?go=terms

BigNews.biz is a registered LLC in the State of New York. The founders have over 30 years of experience doing staff and freelance work for major media such as Newsday, The Los Angeles Times and the AP, covering both U.S. and International stories.

BigNews.biz LLC
16 Heath Place
Garden City, New York
11530-3005 US

http://www.bignews.biz/blog/

Link Referral Update

2009-07-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

If you are unhappy about reviews, your rating or any other problem you can remove your listing by going to the "contact page".

You will see:

"I wish to discontinue mailings or retire my account: login to your account and change your preferences and follow the instructions."

However, if you want to share your reviews you can post them on your site, html will be generated for you so you can copy and paste the reviews. If you scroll down on the side bar you will see and example.

Traffic - Traffic Falling? No Traffic:

2009-07-18T09:35:00.001-07:00

Check out Google Trends, you can learn about the trend of your market. Becasue I am a Home Based Jeweler I checked http://www.google.com/trends?q=handcrafted+jewelry. In an effort to promote traffic and sales of Handcrafted Jewelry on http:homebasedjewelers.blogspot.com I checked the "trend" of handcrafted jewelry and this is what I found:

Google states: "Trends scales the first term you’ve entered so that its average search traffic in the chosen time period is 1.0; subsequent terms are then scaled relative to the first term. Note that all numbers are relative to total traffic."

Checking Jewelry the trend shows:

basically the same trend.

People get so frustrated becasue they don't get enough traffic and I ask, how may of the same people really work at "getting traffic". Are you using the tremendous tools that are available at no charge. SEO's charge big bucks to "guarantee" top listings and what tools do you think they may be using?

Go to http://www.google.com/trends to check out what your market looks like.

To tweet or not to tweet?

2009-07-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Twitter:
To tweet or not to tweet?
How do you tell who is worth following though once you've found them?
How much time out of your ‘no time left’ day do you have to tweet?
How do you know the person you are following is even who they claim to be?

If you find someone with 2500 followers, you might think they have something of value; but do they?
Spammers are hitting Twitter like the plague. Twitter has started to verify account because of a lawsuit. Almost everything I read about marketing says you MUST be on the social network and yet I have not seen much that interests me because idle chit-chat is a waste of my time. In addition to all the nonsense that is going on in Twitter.

By Mike McDonald
“Social Media is still an area very much in it's development. There will no doubt be plenty of twists and turns as we move along. However, there is one thing you can absolutely take to the bank: if aren't in it, you need to get there. For better or worse, "wait and see" strategists have no place in this world.” (Mike has been covering ebusiness and the search industry for WebProNews since 2000.)

Somebody please tell me why I Must! The “authority” (?) that be tell us we must right after they tell us it’s not a good place to be. Go figure. Yep, and they will probably come with search engines for tweeters too.

What is the difference between Bird Flu and Swine Flu?
For bird flu you need tweetment
And for swine flu you need oikment.

Link Referral

2009-07-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Linkreferral Concept (from Linkreferral website)
We (linkreferral.com) are striving to provide an affordable alternative to search engines and banner ad campaigns which give sometimes slow results. Our four pronged approach to developing free traffic for our members is described below:

Members directory traffic - By joining, you will be included in our members directory which is visited by our community of over 200,000 members, and thousands of outside visitors on a daily basis. You'll have the opportunity to earn a ranking at the top of your category, absolutely free! Receive valuable feedback from visitors of your website, network with your peers, and give your opinion on other websites in the directory. The more you participate, the more you get in return!

Referral based traffic - You are probably familiar with the concept of network marketing, well this is a free version of that marketing method - by registering and promoting your linkreferral affiliate link, an exponential growth of 5 levels of referrals can be created (ex. you refer 10 people who refer 10 people each who refer 10 each....), potentially 10,000s of visitors/day all viewing your link prominently in the top spot of our 'Featured Sites' section on our home page for your referral ID. It works because its free, fast to register, easy to implement and no risk. People that are referred from your site will have nothing to lose and everything to gain, just like you.

Search engine traffic - By registering, you'll benefit several ways, including,

1) having your web page listing indexed more quickly - the major search engines continuously spider our site, and the sites listed in our directory.
2) Improved search engine rankings and SEO optimization.
3) Indirect search engine traffic via linkreferral.com. Pages such as your directory listing and your affiliate page listing feature your link and description, are picked up by all the major search engines. Your sign-up description, combined with our strong traffic base (a prime ranking factor for most major search engines) can pull in a significant immediate steady stream of traffic to your listing on linkreferral.com and then on to your web site.

Simple Things: Html

2009-07-05T13:41:00.001-07:00

Below are simple things that can help you control the look of your posting in your blog. By typing these into the code you can, for example, put a widget in the center of a column. The picture below illustrates what the characters look like but can’t be typed here because it won’t show up. Put the first character set before your text or widget and the second set directly after.

The br is for a break in a line. It creates a new line.

Strong means the text will be bold.

Strike means there will be a strike through a word.
As in the price was ~~49.95~~ Now 39.95. There is a character set of html before and after the 49.95 that you don't see.